The millionaire walks down a corridor to a classroom, not across a baseball field from the bullpen. This pitcher's task is to control high school students, not his 95 mph fastball. He is substituting not for a tiring starter, but for the regular teacher.

Alex Meyer gets a lot more out of it than the $63 a day paid by Greensburg schools.

"Being able to be a substitute teacher puts me in a real-life atmosphere and lets me know if this is something I really want to do or not," he said. "So far, it is."

This is the third offseason as a sub for the 6-9 Meyer, 23, a former Indiana Mr. Baseball who was selected 23rd by the Washington Nationals in the first round of the 2011 draft. He played three college seasons at Kentucky before signing a reported $2 million contract.

A year ago, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins and ranked their fourth-best prospect by Baseball America before throwing a pitch in the organization. He had a 3.21 earned run average in 70 innings for Double-A New Britain then was rated the No. 4 prospect in the postseason Arizona Fall League, which is for the best minor leaguers in baseball after compiling a 3.12 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 26 innings.

Teachers at Greensburg High School gush about Meyer. He is a familiar figure in this town (population 11,492), which is located 55 miles southeast of Indianapolis.